Master vs. Apprentice: Richard Sherman Trolls Skip Bayless on Live TV

LANDOVER, MD - JANUARY 06: Richard Sherman #25 of the Seattle Seahawks celebrates their 24 to 14 win over the Washington Redskins in the NFC Wild Card Playoff Game at FedExField on January 6, 2013 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)Richard Sherman of the Seattle Seahawks celebrates their win over the Washington Redskins in the NFC Wild Card Playoff Game at FedExField on January 6, 2013 in Landover, Maryland. (Credit: Al Bello/Getty Images)

All-Pro defensive back Richard Sherman of the Seattle Seahawks is confident in his abilities on and off the field.

So much so, he has no problem letting you know what he thinks of you, especially if your name is Skip Bayless.

In an appearance on First Take, Sherman – who Redskins fans may remember best as the guy who got in Trent William’s face after the Skins-Hawks playoff game – made it abundantly clear he doesn’t have a lot of love for the perennial pot-stirrer Bayless.

He emphasized as much Thursday with words like “I’m better at life than you” and “you are an ignorant, pompous, egotistical cretin.”

Analyze Sherman’s attack how you will, which we’ll get to in a moment, but there’s one distinct quality that these two men share: the propensity for getting under people’s skin.

Everyone reading this post should be well familiar with Bayless’ resume at this point. He trolls an entire nation of sports fans daily.

But Sherman may still fly under some people’s radars.

As mentioned above, there was the Williams incident, which may have left a bad taste in Redskins fans’ mouths as it coincided with their team’s exit from the playoffs.

More recently, there was his Twitter beef with Darrelle Revis – who is widely regarded as the best corner in the league – in which Sherman proclaimed himself better than his defensive counterpart with the quote “Women lie, men lie, numbers don’t lie,” sparking a volatile exchange of tweets. Sherman came out on top by the way.

Then there was the time he trash-talked the league’s best quarterback to his face. After Seattle upset New England in Week 6 of the 2012 NFL season, Sherman met Tom Brady on the field to give him an earful, then tweeted a screen-capture of their rendezvous following the game with the caption “You Mad Bro?” sending the Twittersphere into a frenzy.

And to bring things full circle, there was yesterday, in which Sherman took his First Take appearance as an open invitation to verbally lambast one of its hosts.

“Whenever you refer to me, whenever you speak to me, whenever you address me, address me as All-Pro Stanford graduate because those are some accomplishments you will aspire to but never accomplish,” Sherman told Bayless on the program. “You have never accomplished anything.”

There was more:

While the intent was clearly there, Sherman’s apparent lack of rhythm made his words come off as transparently premeditated at best.

“I don’t really care about Richard Sherman, I mean I couldn’t care less, but he’s basically a professional troll too right?” EB of the Junkies posited on 106.7 The Fan Thursday. “He’s a trash-talker on the field.”

“I didn’t like him in this interview at all and I’m one of his biggest fans. Normally he’s funny and he’s outgoing with it,” Drab returned. “It was just uncomfortable and I actually like the way Skip can take a beating.”

Now, how do you feel about the cornerback going on the offensive from the jump?

Did his weak delivery usurp the epic potential of his troll vs. troll shot at Skip Bayless?